Aspect Ratio Issues in FCP with 4.5k ws

[Joel Pfeiffer]

Anyone know why R3D files originating in 4480 x 1920 (2.35 aspect ratio) exporting from color in 4096 x 1743 (2.35 aspect ratio) changes aspect ratio when playing back in FCP, when its paused its correct but when played it auto stretches in my preview no matter what settings I use. Any Idears....

 

[Uli Plank]

FCP doesn't work well with 4K and not at all beyond. Color can handle 4K, but not 4.5. Now that it's dead anyway, better get something else, like Premiere Pro.

 

[Joel Pfeiffer]

Yea I know it dying but not dead, I will continue with FCP 7 no thanks on Premiere, I am an editor and while I appreciate some aspects of premiere (R3D Support) I dislike the UI and alot of other features. In apple color why is 4.5k (2.35 aspect) changing frame size, I am telling it to work in 1920 x 813 (2.35 aspect) shots export out slightly punched in and they are at 100 scale so I cant reduce scale its not like its bigger than my sequence, the clip and sequence settings match exactly.

 

[Jeff Kilgroe]

How do you dislike Premiere's interface when it's so similar to FCP, it's like uh, almost a blatant copy? And it uses all the same keyboard commands and shortcuts. Anyway, not here to argue....

As for 4.5K in Color, it's just down to bugs and lack of support in Color. 4.5K is mostly a no-go with FCP/Color. Your best solution for FCS workflow with 4.5K is to do a best-light, primary CC and transcode to 4K ProRes 4x4. Then edit, then grade in Color. If 4K ProRes is too much for your system to chew on, generate yourself some 1080p or 720p ProRes 422 files to work with as proxies and then reconform later for grading/finishing. When transcoing your 4.5K footage to 4K, matte it on a 16:9 frame. It will save you more headaches than you realize. You can crop back to 2.35 or 2.40 when you finish.

 

[Joel Pfeiffer]

Thanks for the quick reply Jeff, so to preserve color space what gamma would you suggest, redlogfilm? I have not tried grading pr 4x4 full res before will i still have almost as much room to play? Prob not even close right? I can set iso and all the red tab stuff b4 I export from red cine so I can have a lot less work to do later. This 16:9 matte your talking about, you mean export 4096 x 2304 color and all then when back from grading put the 2.35 aspect matte on in FCP?

 

[Marc Wielage]

I have not tried grading pr 4x4 full res before will i still have almost as much room to play? Prob not even close right? I can set iso and all the red tab stuff b4 I export from red cine so I can have a lot less work to do later. This 16:9 matte your talking about, you mean export 4096 x 2304 color and all then when back from grading put the 2.35 aspect matte on in FCP?

My own perspective is that you're better off conforming the final and then handing off the full res 444 material to the colorist for final color and output. A great deal depends on your delivery: if you're going out to film, then you would need to stay in 4K. If you're delivering in HD, then I'd say you should convert to a format that works for your colorist (maybe ProRes 444 HQ 1080p). If you're working with a post house, ask them for a workflow test to see how best to convert the material to HD.